Becoming Billie Holiday [Paperback]

Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award

The stunning voice and hard life of legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday is revealed through evocative, accessible poetry written by Children's Literature Legacy Award winner Carole Boston Weatherford.

In 1915, Sadie Fagan gave birth to a daughter she named Eleanora. The world, however, would know her as Billie Holiday, possibly the greatest jazz singer of all time. Eleanora's journey to become a legend took her through pain, poverty, and run-ins with the law. By the time she was fifteen, she knew she possessed something that could possibly change her life: a voice. Eleanora could sing. Her remarkable voice led her to a place in the spotlight with some of the era's hottest big bands. Through a sequence of raw and poignant poems, New York Times best-selling and award-winning poet Weatherford chronicles the singer's young life, her fight for survival, and the dream she pursued with passion.★  The poetry is rich and evocative. . . . A remarkable tribute well worthy of its subject. —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Readers will find a generous assortment of recommended reading and listening at the end of this proud, clear-voiced testimonial. —Booklist

★  [Weatherford] captures the woman's jazzy, candid voice so adroitly that at times the poems seem like they could have been lifted wholesale from Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. . . . This captivating title places readers solidly into Holiday's world, and is suitable for independent reading as well as a variety of classroom uses. —School Library Journal, starred reviewNew York Times best-selling author Carole Boston Weatherford’s&lµ